What is the best way to keep powdery kief powdery after I decarboxylate it? Thank you.
Good question and like many things associated with cannabis cooking, it depends.
That's because there are so many different textures when it comes to kief, depending on the plant material it is made from. Some are powerdy kiefs, but others can get sticky, especially if it's good kief. Some kief can even be gummy after decarboxylation (the process of heating the kief into order to transform the plant's THC-A into psychoactive THC).
Dry Ice Kief before decarboxylation
Kief/Hash broken up and decarboxylated
If it started as really powdery kief, sometimes you can crush it into a powder with your fingers. I was able to do that with the kief in the photo at right, as you can see it barely clumped together after decarbing.
Otherwise I usually use a mortar and pestle to gently break up the decarbed kief before adding to a recipe. Use a gentle hand as, if your kief is gummy, a hard mashing could make the problem worse and cement it together. But for many varieties a gentle crushing in a mortar and pestle will work. Alternately the back of a spoon on a small plate can get you a similar result.
For dry varieties a fine grater or microplaner can also do the trick, but most kief is already too crumbly for this, but I have seen some varieties where this works. Again, providing it is not too gummy, cause if it is too gummy it will just make a mess of the grater.
If your kief is ultra gummy, I try to save this type for use in recipes and foods that call for heating. Heated in liquids, most, if not all of the kief will dissolve and disappear into the foods. Even the sticky, gummy variety.
No matter what the variety, I do the crushing, mashing, etc. right before adding to the recipe. That's cause if you do it sooner, depending on the temperature and how the kief is stored, it can clump back together again.
Hope this helps.
Cheri
What is the best method for decarboxylation? I use my oven only and more interested in getting the most out of the CBD. I’ve been preparing it in a 250 oven for 30-35 min. Better to do lower oven temp for a longer period of time?
I recently update my decarboxylation guidelines. Learn more at this link
https://www.cannabischeri.com/mary-jane/learning/marijuana-decarboxylation/
I just decarbed 3 different Kief strains in the oven. One if the three turned into a sticky liquid. The other two remained a powder bit became a bit clumped together. Why did one Kief strain turn into liquid?
Thanks!
That is strange. The only thing I can think of is that strain contained more oil and will likely be pretty potent.
This happens to me always. I use bubble hash and it’s pretty pure so it turns to oil. More potent and pure the more likely to turn to oil and it’s also the amount of terpines that will cause it to grease. Personally I Just decarb in a small Pyrex container and then place the container in a pot of near boiling water (not boiling) and simmer to infuse into coconut oil or butter. There are many other options that’s just what I do.
Can I decarb marrocan hash (realy sticky) the same way? 220ºF for aprox. 30min or I need more time?
Thanks
You wouldn’t need any more time. I treat hash the same way when it comes to decarbing. Put it in a small ovenproof dish of course. But I decarb for 1 hour at 240. Find more decarbing info at this link:
https://www.cannabischeri.com/mary-jane/learning/marijuana-decarboxylation/
Good to know. It does do a great job of decarbing, although the texture has more to do with the strain and amount of plant material in it, so it is possible to decarb in the Nova and still have textural issues. But it is my favorite gadget, in fact, the only special gadget I use for cannabis cooking.
I used to Nova machine and it comes out fabulous no matter what you’re trying to do
Hey there, thanks a lot for all your info. I am but lazy cooking my edibles. Is that ok to eat pieces of kief with some fat to have the effects? And can I keep the kief in a dry place for later use? Thanks a lot!
Sure, you can definitely do that.